February 26, 2010 – 9:17 am
During this Lenten season myself and
some friends have been reading through John 20:19-29 as a Lectio Divina
practice. As I've carefully read through this passage several times
already this year one distinct theme has been coming into focus
similar to the way the picture within the picture of a 3D image emerges after time. Based on my time in this
narrative I'd say God gets a good kick out of us when we utilize those
wildly wonderful senses he designed within us. And I wonder what the look
is on God's face when we resign the development of our theological understanding to
sensory-dulling environments like seminary classrooms and church pews.
Yes, blessed are those who have not
seen and yet have believed but the story crescendo-ing up until that
statement tells of a God who desires to engage the valued souls of
his children through the beauty of their senses...
“Jesus came and stood among
them...” v.19 (includes all senses)
Grandpa's have a distinct smell to them. My
grandpa Simmons was an Indiana farmer and when you were near him
there was an awesome blend of tractor fuel and listerine that hit
your nose. My memory of grandpa also goes quickly to the taste of
fresh picked corn on the cob.
If I grew up on the other side of the
world and knew of my grandpa only through pictures and letters it
just wouldn't have been the same.
Jesus didn't have to stand among the
disciples and allow for a sensory level experience of his resurrected
self. He could have simply sent the equivalent of a text message, but
he understood that without a profound sensory interaction the memory
wouldn't leave the vivid imprint on their soul that it did.
He stood with them. That distinct
smell, his newly acquired wounds, all the idiosyncrasies that their
senses helped them recall and discover Immanuel. God is truly with
us.
“Peace be with you.” v.19
(auditory) “If you have ears listen and understand.” The words Jesus spoke in Matthew 11:15 are about all the prophetic preaching that
people heard from John the Baptist. And In the context of freeing
several deaf people into the promise land of sound Jesus encourages
the crowd to listen with those strange and beautiful looking things
on either side of their head. St. Benedict of Nursia coined a phrase
that deeply connects the ears with our spiritual development,
“Listen,
my son, to the master’s instructions, and attend to them with the
ear of your heart.”
The ears then are a major part of our
body's spiritual formation team. Maybe that's why St. Francis
supposedly had conversations with birds. In their songs he heard
something deeper that connected with his soul.
With this twice repeated phrase in
John's narrative Jesus' tender and carefully chosen words diffused a
bomb and the disciples began to breath a sigh of relief that would
change their sense of peace from that day forward. The sound of the
Prince of Peace speaking the words, “Peace be with You,” seems as if it might land with more weight to it than if it were spoken by someone else.
Allowing the things we hear -cries, police sirens, laughter, etc.- to travel
beyond our head and into our heart radically changes the way we
choose to respond.
"He showed them his hands and his
side." v.20 (visual) Gross. It's a visual with enough haunting
force behind it that it will be evident every moment from then on when
they speak of their crucified and risen Brother. Like the rubber neck
drivers passing by a bad accident on the highway the disciples must
have been in stunned awe while looking at the marks that resulted
from having huge spikes ripped in and then out of delicate flesh just a few days prior to this.
And as unsightly as this revealing of
wounds may seem, it shouted, “Yes, I'm the risen Son of God but wait... I am
also your brother Jesus, and I ooze and I bleed and I stink as much
as anybody.” If we can't allow our eyes to stay here and absorb the scene it's likely we'll idealize, water down, de-scandalize the
reality and implications on the ultimate lynching event in history.
Allowing their eyes to rest on those fresh wounds and fully take in the entire image of Jesus the disciples response is
described as “overjoyed.”
"He breathed on them." v.22
(touch)
If you place your hand just three feet from your
mouth, take a deep breath, and blow toward it, you can barely feel it, right? So, I
wonder if -He breathed on them- was a condensed version of him
walking around and taking each individual firmly by the shoulders,
looking him in the eye with up most intention, and attending to him uniquely and concluding with those unimaginably fulfilling words, Receive the
Holy Spirit.
I imagine this to be the ultimate gale
force sensory experience for the disciples. It's the climactic
explosion that made everything up to this point in their life make
sense. His breath, those words, the wounds, the eyes, all combine
into an experience that satisfies deeper than anything this world has
ever or will ever offer. A feeling that could only be explained as
being born again.
"Reach out your hand and put it into my side." v. 27 (touch if not smell and sounds as well)
Just
a few days earlier Thomas would be sitting at the dinner table with Jesus
listening to him explain, This is my body that is broken for you.
Take it. Ingest it. And remember me. For this particular disciple
that experience would be forever paired with the surreal moment he placed his
fingers into the gaping opening in Jesus' side. “OMG! It really is
you!” It took a live and most grotesque sensory experience for
Thomas to recognize his master conquered death. And even though Thomas gets a bad rap only known as the guy who
doubted the resurrection, Jesus lovingly invited him into an experience of himself that he could feel.
There was no
halo and no hovering a couple inches above the ground. Thomas discovered the evidence first hand that his resurrected friend and
Lord had indeed undergone the heartless Roman torture unto death but
was now shockingly standing right there inviting him to sense the divine.
Taste and see that the Lord is good. (Psalm 34:8) Did I actually taste my coffee this morning or just habitually suck it down? Did I pause long enough to allow my eyes to take in the beauty of the sunrise? Or even the amazing creativity and color of the graffiti in the alley? Did I listen with the ear of my heart to the story being told by the alcoholic on the corner or the one within the song on the radio? Or what about the sounds of the squirrel running up the tree outside my window?
This portion of the story in John which I'll continue to be sifting through reminds me of the ongoing invitation to pause and pay careful attention to the variety of indicators of the incarnation's presence. Today, how will my taste, touch, smelling, sight, and listening impact my understanding of theology? Of Incarnation? Perhaps it won't lead to a revolution the way it did for the disciples in that room, but who knows? Maybe I'll pay closer attention.
Posted in Ryan Taylor | No Comments »
So, important stuff.
